This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 1999-3896, filed on Feb. 5, 1999, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a wireless communication system, and more particularly, to a remotely operated portable wireless video/audio monitoring system in which one portable central station selectively controls one or more remote terminals to monitor images and voices at remote locations.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In conventional communication fields, such as a wireless two-way radio communication system, video transmission and wireless video transmission, there have been provided a variety of devices capable of transmitting and receiving audio and video signals by wireless means or by wire. These video communication devices may be of such a desktop type or cabinet type that they are designed with no restriction in device size and operating power, but they are not suitable for a portable device.
In most monitoring devices, commercially available at the present time, a central station is connected to remote terminals by wire to monitor remote locations. However, such a wire monitoring device is restricted in use because it cannot be adapted for a variety of variations in monitoring circumstances.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a remotely operated wireless portable video/audio monitoring system that substantially obviates one or more of the problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
An object of the present invention is to provide a remotely operated wireless portable video/audio monitoring system in which one portable central station selectively controls one or more remote terminals to monitor images and voices at remote locations.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a remotely operated communication system in which wireless data communication and analog communication are performed together so that remote terminals can efficiently be controlled and images and voices at remote locations can be monitored.
An object of the present invention is to provide a two-way wireless portable video/audio communication system wherein a portable terminal is used in a hand-held manner and includes a video input camera and a video output display.
The present invention employs techniques used in communication fields, such as a wireless two-way video/audio personal communication system, video transmission, wireless video transmission and remote control device. More particularly, the present invention improves a camera mounted two-way wireless personal video/audio communication system shown in Korean Patent Application No. 1999-634 and its counterpart U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/481,652, which are incorporated herein by reference, to make it suitable to a remote monitoring system.
In the ""634 application, one or more portable terminals constitute a communication group to transmit and receive audio and video signals in a two-way communication system. Hence, images and voices can be transmitted and received among remote terminals in dynamic portable environments. However, one terminal cannot remotely control other terminals, thereby making it impossible for a portable central station to selectively monitor unmanned remote terminals.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, a remotely operated wireless video/audio hand-held monitoring system comprises a central station having a display and a speaker, the central station sending out control command data containing a remote terminal identifier, a communication frequency channel number and any one of a test command, a power on command and a power off command, receiving response data corresponding to the control command data and reproducing video and audio signals transmitted at a frequency corresponding to the communication frequency channel number, respectively, through the display and speaker in response to the received response data; and at least one remote terminal having a camera and a microphone, the remote terminal receiving the control command data from the central station, sending out the response data corresponding to the received control command data to the central station and, in a power on mode based on the power on command, driving the camera, the microphone and a video/audio signal transmitter and transmitting a video signal from the camera and an audio signal from the microphone to the central station at the frequency corresponding to the communication frequency channel number.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, a method of transmitting/receiving video and audio signals using a portable wireless communication system comprises the steps of: (a) allowing a central station with a display and a speaker to send out control command data containing a remote terminal identifier, a communication frequency channel number and any one of a test command, a power on command and a power off command, to receive response data corresponding to the control command data and to reproduce video and audio signals transmitted at a frequency corresponding to the communication frequency channel number, respectively, through the display and speaker in response to the received response data; and (b) allowing at least one remote terminal with a camera and a microphone to receive the control command data from the central station, to send out the response data corresponding to the received control command data to the central station and to, in a power on mode based on the power on command, drive the camera, the microphone and a video/audio signal transmitter and transmit a video signal from the camera and an audio signal from the microphone to the central station at the frequency corresponding to the communication frequency channel number.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide a further explanation of the invention as claimed.